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Lest We Forget...

RULOST2? and I recently spent a couple of days caching in Massachusetts. I grew up in Andover, MA, and being familiar with the area made caching a lot easier. We're usually guilty of not logging DNF's, but on this trip we did log one - "Baby E"

This is a micro apparently located somewhere in the bleachers at a baseball field. But what hit me as we pulled into the parking lot was the fact that the park was dedicated to SP4 Warren "Buster" Deyermond, with whom I graduated from high school in 1966. As far as I know, Buster was the only member of my graduating class that went to Vietnam but didn't make it back alive. Buster and I never got along, but I have to respect his sacrifice and say "Thank You" as I reflect on this Veteran's Day.

(Curiously enough, Buster's cousin was pictured in the 1968 Andover HS yearbook along with Jay Leno as the "Class Clowns". I have been told that Jay has kept in touch with the family).

Thanking a Vet.

There is such a change in the overall feeling towards Vet's today compared to 30 years ago. I still get thank you's from people I don't know and I've been back from Iraq for almost nine months now. I was about 14 years old when Saigon fell but for those of you "old" vet's here's my belated thank you to you!

I went to my son's High School (Bangor Christian (Class D)) state soccer match in Richmond last weekend and was in uniform because of a drill weekend and was admitted to the match free. Tickets were $7.00!

For those of you from Maine you know there were some in my unit (133d Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy)) who made the ultimate sacrifice. For many, this war in Iraq and Afghanistan doesn't make sense but in the big picture there haven't been any attacks on U.S. soil since September 11th. It had been almost 60 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor! If this will keep our country safe for another 60 years than I think those who didn't return would feel comforted.

Thanks again to all who have served!

--Mike.

P.S. For those of you do-it-yourselfer's (and I know there's a lot after reading the FFJake's electrical thread ) who are also currently in the military (active or reserve) or are retirees, Home Depot and Lowes are giving a 10% discount to you at their stores Nov 10 - Nov 13. Details here: http://www.military.com/MilitaryRepo...SRC=miltrep.nl

Canadian Rememberance Day

November 11th was always a big day in our small town in Nova Scotia. The veterans came in the school, the days before, to talk to us. All of us wore poppies, we memorized "In Flanders Field," and we all went to the local gymnasium for a ceremony, 1 minute of silence at 11:00 and then taps. The vets marched from the legion hall to the school. My dad, who is 84, never misses the march. I sent him an e-mail this morning just to let him know I was thinking of him.
Being Canadian, my experience with the Vietnam war Was working with and living in a community of "draft dodgers." When I moved to the US it was strange for me to met people my age that had gone to war. Some were ashamed to talk about it. I saw a change in this attitude and I can remember standing with tears in my eyes as the Vietnam Vets got one of the largest applauds from the group I was with that was watching the July 4th parade in Augusta in 1998. No, we may not always believe in what other people care passionately about, but we can honor those people and what they do for us; it's Rememberance Day.

November 11th was always a big day in our small town in Nova Scotia. The veterans came in the school, the days before, to talk to us. All of us wore poppies, we memorized "In Flanders Field," and we all went to the local gymnasium for a ceremony, 1 minute of silence at 11:00 and then taps. The vets marched from the legion hall to the school. My dad, who is 84, never misses the march. I sent him an e-mail this morning just to let him know I was thinking of him.
Being Canadian, my experience with the Vietnam war Was working with and living in a community of "draft dodgers." When I moved to the US it was strange for me to met people my age that had gone to war. Some were ashamed to talk about it. I saw a change in this attitude and I can remember standing with tears in my eyes as the Vietnam Vets got one of the largest applauds from the group I was with that was watching the July 4th parade in Augusta in 1998. No, we may not always believe in what other people care passionately about, but we can honor those people and what they do for us; it's Rememberance Day.

When I moved to the US it was strange for me to met people my age that had gone to war. Some were ashamed to talk about it. I saw a change in this attitude and I can remember standing with tears in my eyes as the Vietnam Vets got one of the largest applauds from the group I was with that was watching the July 4th parade in Augusta in 1998. No, we may not always believe in what other people care passionately about, but we can honor those people and what they do for us; it's Rememberance Day.

My Dad to this day still does not like to talk about his experience in Vietnam . . .

Growing up I once asked Dad when I was a teen-ager why he never hunted or had a gun in the house even though he did so when younger. I'll never forget his answer, "Son. I've used a gun before and I've seen what it can do to people and I don't particularly care to ever use one ever again." He's not anti-hunting or anti-gun . . . it's just not for him.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

My Dad to this day still does not like to talk about his experience in Vietnam . . .

Growing up I once asked Dad when I was a teen-ager why he never hunted or had a gun in the house even though he did so when younger. I'll never forget his answer, "Son. I've used a gun before and I've seen what it can do to people and I don't particularly care to ever use one ever again." He's not anti-hunting or anti-gun . . . it's just not for him.

veteran's day

after reading bruce's post yesterday, i called my father. we had just spent the morning together but i forgot to mention veteran's day to him. it is a very important day for him - he was in the marines in ww2. (he's now almost 82.) he was in the south pacific during the war. i told him that i would have to come visit him to get some of his war memories on paper. there is only one story i have ever heard him tell me and that was about some huge lizard that was walking between where he had been working on an airstrip and his bunk. so, of course, he started to tell it to me again. when i asked if he had any other stories, he told me just what he has said for years and years - that he doesn't want to talk about it. when i was much younger, one of his marine buddies came to visit him. they talked and talked, only about the people in their unit - but not about what had happened. (i used to have a car with orange dashboard lights and they would absolutely send him over the edge if he drove with me at night - said they reminded him of being on the ships during the war. i always had to turn them off.) anyway, thank you, bruce for reminding me to call him. he really likes that the country honors veterans with this day.